The haunted theaters of Edinburgh are the home of the horrifying of paranormal stories that continue to intrigue the locals and visitors, writes John’s Tantalon
The ghost theaters of Edinburgh
During a recent visit to a local theater, I was privileged enough to find myself not only backstage, but on the actual stage itself. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the building was free from participants; That day I had a private tour of a friend who works there.
Festival Theater, Edinburgh
The Edinburgh Festival Theater is in a sufficiently impressive location. The building has been working under its current name since 1994 and was previously known as the empire. It is in this period that our story starts.
In 1911, a terrible fire flooded the building. The final of ‘The Lions Bride’ performed by the world -famous Great Lafayette ended in tragedy that day. The body of the magician discovered a police investigation under the wreck. Rings from the cadaver seemed missing. During the research a second charred body was discovered with the missing rings. The first body turned out to be the stunt doubles of the magician. For many, the story of the big Lafayette concluded that fatal day. For others, his performance continues today.
My friend has been working in the Theater Festival for more than 30 years. He claims to have witnessed a shady figure above the stage on the lighting installation at this time. He is not the only person who claims to have seen him. A traveling medium that attended a performance in the theater asked if it would be possible to visit backstage afterwards. The woman insisted that someone was present in the lighting platform. She believed that more than one person was present and that the shadow figure had a wooden leg.
The Playhouse, Haunted Edinburgh Theater
The Festival Theater is just one of the Edinburgh locations for showing spooky stories. The Speelhuis is one of the many ghosts of the UK. Employees have reported that they have seen a man in Gray who is known as Albert who appears at the sixth level of the theater, accompanied by an eruption of cold air. His entire identity is not known, but it is thought that he is the spirit of an internship hand or night watchman who killed himself in the building.
The paranormal existence of Albert came to light for the first time in the 1950s when, as a version of the story goes, theater employees called the police for a burglary. The officer sent to investigate, found the stage door open and went inside to check and secure the building. After a fruitless search, the agent returned to the Gayfield Square police station.
At level six he met an older man who introduced himself as Albert, the stage dodekeeper. The older man assured him that he would lock up the building. The next day the policeman called in the playhouse to ensure that there had been no further problems. He told a younger staff member at the stage door that he had been called the night before and spoke with Albert. The divers of the Ashen face said that Albert had died some time earlier and that the theater had been empty all night.
The Lyceum Theater, Edinburgh
The Lyceum theater also has a spirit. The theater was reportedly chased by a woman dressed in blue who was observed in an area above the stage. A ringing sound sometimes accompanies her. A suggestion is that the spectral figure may be the famous Ellen Terry. The valued lady Terry, although English, came from Irish and Scottish descent. Acting was in her blood, because many family members of Terry kept the stage, including an ancestor of Sir John Gielgud.
Dame Ellen Terry died of a brain haemorrhage in Kent in 1928. Family members spread her ashes in a Covent Garden Church. The question is, how did she chase the Lyceum in Edinburgh? There was a chalk statue of her in the Lyceum -Foyer. During the Second World War, the local government recovered the figure due to a shortage of chalk.
Authorities have struck it carelessly and only survived her head. The tragic white head reportedly rolled around the stalls for many years. Could the spooky appearance of a dark figure be above the lighting installation Lady Ellen? She is furious because of the callous destruction of her proud image so many years ago. Could there be a connection with the existing head? Is she looking for the damaged part of her statue to return to the rightful place at the entrance of the theater?
The Embassy Cinema, Edinburgh
The embassy cinema was opened in 1937 and operated within the Leith Cinema Group (State Cinema). William Albin was the director. His son, Bill, later became the history of the Cinema manager. The cinema continued to exist until the 1970s. The embassy was in decline after a fire on March 2, 1964. The cinema was never reopened. The current owners applied for their use as a dance hall or Bingo Hall, but this was refused. The building was demolished in 1975 and its presence had now disappeared. This once Grand Cinema and Entertainment -Middelpunt of the Royston area was just a memory, but the inheritance would remain.
In the late 1970s, developers converted the piece of land into a modern supermarket. The laws supermarket chain worked here until 1985 and developed one or two story to tell about the store. A previous resident of the area recalls the story of a spooky figure that would appear close to the entrance to the supermarket. Customers would be warned about fingers clicking as if they were caught their attention. When the reacting customer would turn around to see who it was, they met the sight of a man who smiled at them, just to disappear immediately before their eyes.
In 1985 an organization developed the store in the William Low Supermarket chain. It didn’t take long before the man clicked on his fingers to materialize again. The witness I spoke to remembers that she saw the appearance in front of the supermarket standing in an area surrounded by a metal handrail. Customers would use the part to store cardboard boxes for customers. He clicked on his fingers to attract your attention and then disappear with a smile. In or around 1994 the supermarket was converted into Shoprite and Kwik Save; It is unknown whether the smiling ghost observations have continued.
The location of the embassy cinema now, the Granton Medical Center, is unrecognizable after the years of continuously changing appearance. The witness with whom I spoke thinks that the Spirit is probably connected to the time of the existence of the cinema. The location of the barrier with the boxes offers an indication of the puzzle. The area would have been exactly where the Usher once stood at the entrance of the cinema. Could he continue to greet shoppers as he did when he welcomed those years ago to welcome cinemagos?
What do you think of these ghost theater stories? Have you ever experienced something paranormal in Edinburgh? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
